Florida's public campaign finance program has sent more than $5 million to statewide candidates

Florida has now sent more than $5 million to a handful of candidates in statewide races in the current election cycle, according to state numbers posted Monday.

The Division of Elections gave nearly $360,000 on Friday to five candidates in the latest round from the state's Public Campaign Finance Program.

Former U.S. Rep. David Jolly, the Democratic nominee for governor, received nearly $270,000, putting his total tab from the program at more than $3 million.

Meanwhile, the $66,000 sent to the campaign account of U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican candidate for governor, brings his state funding to nearly $1.2 million.

The voter-approved program matches contributions of $250 or less from individuals residing in Florida made to candidates for governor and the Cabinet.

As of Oct. 16, Jolly raised $11.9 million through his campaign account, of which nearly $9.5 million has been spent. The political committee Florida 2026 has separately spent $9 million of the nearly $12 million raised for Jolly's efforts. Political committee funding isn't eligible for the state matching program.

At the same time, Donalds has raised almost $17 million through his political committee, with $13 million already spent. The political committee Friends of Byron Donalds PAC has raised $141 million, of which $116 million has been spent.

In the contest for attorney general, the state program on Friday distributed $11,000 to Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez and $5,300 to Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier. Rodriguez has now received more than $372,000 from the state, while Uthmeier is up to $179,000.

Rodriguez has raised $1.6 million through his campaign account, of which $1.4 million has been spent.

The political committee Floridians for JJR has spent most of the $1.88 million raised.

Uthmeier has spent less than one-third of the $1.9 million raised through his campaign account, while the political committee Friends of James Uthmeier has spent just over $7.7 million of the $12.9 million raised.

Annette Taddeo, the former state legislator running as the Democratic candidate for the Cabinet office of Chief Financial Officer, picked up just over $7,000 from the state on Friday, bringing her participation in the program to $81,000.

Taddeo has spent less than half the $250,000 she has raised through her campaign account. She has raised an additional $450,000 through the political committee Friends of Annette Taddeo PC.

Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, who did not apply for the program, has raised $1.6 million through his campaign account. As of Oct. 16, he had more than $500,000 available from his campaign account and nearly $1 million on hand from the political committees Friends of Blaise Ingoglia and Government Gone Wild PAC.

When approved by voters in 1998, the program was promoted as a way to reduce the influence of big-money contributors by helping underfunded candidates compete in costly statewide elections.

In the five election cycles since the program was created, the state has issued a little more than $38 million to 39 campaigns.

Gov. Ron DeSantis accounted for $10.5 million of the allocations through his 2018 and 2022 campaigns.